Africa has had more political drama and economic change, much of it
pointing in a positive direction, than any other continent in 2012.
Successful, peaceful elections have strengthened democracy in Ghana and
Sierra Leone and consolidated
political pluralism in Liberia
and
Zambia. Having overthrown
dictatorships, the people of...
Africa has had more political drama and economic change, much of it
pointing in a positive direction, than any other continent in 2012.
Successful, peaceful elections have strengthened democracy in Ghana and
Sierra Leone and consolidated
political pluralism in Liberia
and
Zambia. Having overthrown
dictatorships, the people of Egypt,
Libya and
Tunisia are now trying to
negotiate new constitutions, which pits
secular liberals against Islamists. The pushback against
authoritarianism – secular or theocratic – suggests North Africa’s
revolutions have deeper roots than many thought.
Just as transformative
is the wave of natural resource, agricultural and retail investment,
even if some cheerleaders ignore unpalatable side effects. Africa’s
civic activists stress the need for governments to get higher tax and
royalties and negotiate more local processing. Watch Ghana, Mozambique,
Tanzania – all learning lessons
from other resource-rich economies.
Young Africans are more literate than their parents but more
unemployed. Governments must encourage, not fight, the informal sector,
the biggest employer in most countries. Investment in education has to
rise steeply: almost half the world’s children without formal education
are in Africa. Those figures, along with the national crises in
Congo-Kinshasa, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Zimbabwe, show the formidable
agenda ahead but African governments and people are better placed than
ever to tackle it.